1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus, an image forming system, a recovery processing method, a program for implementing the method, and a storage medium storing the program, and in particular to an image forming apparatus that performs image formation on a sheet, an image forming system in which a plurality of image forming apparatuses are connected on a network, a recovery processing method that is executed by an image forming apparatus, a program for implementing the method, and a storage medium storing the program.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, in a system where a color image forming apparatus (color copy apparatus) and a black-and-white image forming apparatus (black and white copy apparatus) are connected to a network, when the images of a plurality of originals that contain both color originals and black-and-white originals are copied and printed out, users have been able to obtain a print result in which both color image pages and black-and-white image pages are mixed by having the images of all of the plurality of originals printed out by the color copy apparatus.
On the other hand, image formation processing by a color copy apparatus takes longer and is more costly than image formation processing by a black-and-white copy apparatus, so that there are demands for having the black-and-white originals in a plurality of originals in which both color originals and black-and-white originals are mixed printed out by a black-and-white copy apparatus. To meet such demands, when the images of a plurality of originals in which both color originals and black-and-white originals are mixed are copied and printed out, it is conceivable to have the black-and-white originals printed out by the black-and-white copy apparatus and the color originals printed out by the color copy apparatus.
In this case, in order to combine the recording sheets that have been printed by the black-and-white copy apparatus and the recording sheets that have been printed by the color copy apparatus into a single bundle like the original plurality of originals, the user has had to insert the recording sheets outputted by one of the copy apparatuses into the recording sheets outputted by the other copy apparatus by hand in order to arrange the originals in the page order.
This means that when the user wishes to collect a plurality of printed sheets together into a single document, part of the task cannot be performed by computer and the user has had to spread out the printed sheets on a desk and perform the task by hand, which has been very inefficient.
To improve this, the following conventional method has been proposed. A stacker tray (storage means) for temporarily storing color output sheets that have been outputted from a color MFP (Multi Function Peripheral) and an insert tray (refeeding means) for inserting color output sheets into black-and-white output sheets outputted from a black-and-white MFP when performing a color/black-and-white mixing are formed of a single common construction (hereinafter such common construction will be referred to as “the stacker tray”). Color output sheets that have been printed by the color MFP, whose output speed is lower than that of the black-and-white MFP, are stacked and stored in the stacker tray, and the stacker tray is attached to an insert apparatus (inserter) of the black-and-white MFP, so that the color output sheets are refed to perform mixing control.
However, there is the following problem with the above conventional method. When a color/black-and-white mixing is performed by an image forming apparatus, it has been necessary to set various kinds of information for the color/black-and-white mixing, that is, information such as a job number, a printer used for mixing the color and black-and-white originals, a paper size, a number of output copies, a stacked state of recording sheets, and a material (type of recording sheet), using an operating part or the like. Based on these settings, it has been necessary to then download information for the color originals from a server that is connected to a network and/or read data out from a storage means inside the image forming apparatus, to form color images, and to then perform a color/black-and-white mixing operation for the color images and the black-and-white images. This can cause occurrence of copying errors due to incorrect settings inputted by the user and a troublesome operation due to complex settings so that a large burden is placed upon the user. In particular, when a plurality of black-and-white/color image forming apparatuses are connected via a network, if the stacker tray is not connected to the inserter (i.e., if the stacker tray is incorrectly attached), this can lead to a large number of miscopied originals and significant downtime.
Also, in recent years an image forming system has been desired, which can perform not only color/black and white mixing jobs of large quantity lots but also color/black and white mixing jobs of small quantity lots using a large capacity stacker tray. However, to perform color/black and white mixing processing using a single stacker tray in a short time period, it is necessary to carry out color print processing for a plurality of jobs until the stack tray becomes full. In this case, a job for which color print processing has been already completed has to wait for further processing until color print processing becomes completed for all the other jobs and the stacker tray becomes full, thus making it impossible to efficiently perform color/black and white mixing jobs of small quantity lots. For this reason, there are demands for a construction that a plurality of compact size stacker trays are attached to an inserter, so that after completion of one job using one stacker tray, the next job can be quickly carried out using another stacker tray, whereby jobs of small quantity lots can be performed with improved productivity.
In this case, it is necessary to manage and make selective use of a plurality of stacker trays so as to properly set the stacker trays onto a desired refeeding cassette of an inserter of a desired image forming apparatus. As a result, there is an increase in the frequency of miscopied originals due to the erroneous input settings and improper attachment of the stacker trays mentioned above, which further increases the burden placed on users. In the case where a plurality of users share the same image forming apparatuses and inserters, the frequency of miscopied originals due to erroneous input settings and improper attachment of the stacker trays increases yet further, which makes the copying operation much more troublesome and leads to yet more downtime.